Talk:Captain Jostero/@comment-38197834-20190313171015/@comment-454133-20190313173811
Ah, I see the confusion. Let me explain. Jostero's ability doesn't trigger from shooting a ship. If the ship took damage from an attack, then it was defending and Jostero's ability does nothing. Engage -> 'Declare Defender -> Roll and modify dice -> Take damage -> End attack '-> Do "after attacking/defending" abilities etc -> Next ship engages. The bold section shows when a ship is defending -- as you can see, shooting a ship won't trigger Jostero at all because the ship is "defending" through the whole process. And Jostero is indeed not intended to trigger on the ship being shot, at least not during the shot. But that's just attack damage -- there are other ways to suffer damage! Examples include asteroids and debris, devices (bombs & mines), Torani's pilot ability (which happens after the attack finishes), , a exposed on enemies near the defender from Concussion Missiles, Deadman's Switch... the list goes on. In these situations, the ship triggering Jostero isn't being shot. In some cases, someone is being shot (e.g. with Concussion Missiles), but someone else took damage -- they weren't defending, so Jostero can shoot them. Jostero's ability will most often trigger during Activation, not Engagement. Ships moving through obstacles and mines, getting caught in bomb blasts, etc, is very common compared to Concussion Missiles. He's one of the few ways to shoot during Activation instead of engagement. But things like Deadman's Switch make a great pairing with Jostero, especially since it makes your opponent gunshy. Should the enemy finish off Jostero's ally, triggering the Deadman damage and Jostero's shot? Or leave him alone to avoid all that damage? Likewise Torani's a pretty good candidate for regularly triggering Jostero. Quadrijets are great at flinging foes onto asteroids to mess up the enemy's movement, and that opens lots of opportunities for triggering Jostero. In contrast, Tractor Beam does not work because the movement onto the asteroid happens during the attack, so the ship taking asteroid damage is still "defending". Quadrijets are also great at dumping mines on enemies, which is a great way to trigger Jostero -- check out Constable Zuvio with Proximity Mines or Conner Nets for an example of fun ways to abuse the opponent. ^_^ So think about abilities that deal damage either after an attack finishes (Torani, Deadman), before an attack (Console Fire or Darth Vader, though Vader's the wrong faction, just an example), while the enemy is attacking (e.g. Saw, R5-P8), during Activation (devices, obstacles, quadrijets, assorted abilities), or during the end phase (enemy using Electronic Baffle, R2-D2 (Crew), etc). There are many ways to take damage when you're not defending, and a Jostero player should watch for those opportunities, and sometimes even create the opportunity. Personally I see Jostero's rules text as very elegant. But I can understand how baffling it would be if you're not aware of what it's intended to do or the rules it's using: 'tis not the attacks that trigger it, but the non-attack damage. I hope that helps!